1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to automotive fuel delivery and, more specifically, to an improved saddle tank fuel delivery system in an automotive vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Saddle fuel tanks are widely used for automotive applications. They are most frequently used with rear wheel drive vehicles and they are designed to hold more fuel than a standard fuel tank.
Saddle fuel tanks include two compartments for storage of fuel connected by a bridge. One known type of saddle tank fuel delivery system involves two fuel pumps, one positioned in each compartment of the tank. Each pump provides the fuel from its respective compartment to the engine. Disadvantages of this type system are the complexity of the system and its expense since there are basically two fuel delivery systems in the vehicle.
Another known type of saddle tank fuel delivery system includes one fuel pump and a jet pump located in the “active” compartment of the tank. The jet pump functions to draw the fuel from the “passive” side of the tank. The jet pump in this type of system is driven by returned fuel that was oversupplied to the engine. In other words, there is a return supply tube that carries fuel that was excessively supplied to the engine back to the fuel tank. The jet pump is connected to and driven by the return supply tube. A disadvantage of this system is that it cannot be used with a returnless fuel delivery system since returnless systems do not use a separate return supply tube. Jet pump efficiency is low because of engine rail back-up pressure limitations.
In view of the above and other disadvantages, there exists a need for an improved saddle tank fuel delivery system.